# Who are your Ancesters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323 "2009-06-10T13:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/1 "2009-06-10T13:54:46Z")
Who are your ancesters, by that I means, are parents, grand-parents, great-grand-parents and so on, your only ancesters, or are uncles and great-aunts and so on also considered ancesters even if you do not descend directly from them. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/2 "2009-06-10T13:59:37Z")
If you do not descend from them then they are not your ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/3 "2009-06-10T14:03:42Z")
Concur. I’m also tired of hearing “predecessor” used for people who aren’t dead yet, but that’s just me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/4 "2009-06-10T14:13:36Z")
I’d put ancestors at least to the great, great grandparent stage. Likely further though. The words connotation is of a long friggin time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/5 "2009-06-10T15:00:28Z")
Merriam-Webster and OED both say “usually more remote than grandparent,” so “great-grand” or further back. I’d personally put it maybe one more generation back, maybe great-great-grandparent, or “the first generation of which no living person in your family has a memory.” In my case, those would be my great-great-grand-parents. If my parents were still alive, that would push it back probably one or two generations. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/6 "2009-06-10T18:22:14Z")
To the OP: No. Uncles etc. are not ancestors. Only people from whom you are descended are ancestors. To **CutterJohn** and **Earl Snake-Hips Tucker** : Why do you put a limit on how far back? It seems to me that at least two of my ancestors lived a thousand years ago. Just because I don’t know who they were, why is that a reason not to call them “ancestors”? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/7 "2009-06-10T18:25:39Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > To **CutterJohn** and **Earl Snake-Hips Tucker** : Why do you put a limit on how far back? It seems to me that at least two of my ancestors lived a thousand years ago. Just because I don’t know who they were, why is that a reason not to call them “ancestors”? I think they mean that’s a “lower” limit, not an “upper” limit. In other words, they wouldn’t call their parents their ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/8 "2009-06-10T18:27:19Z")
As you can tell from my username, mine go 'waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/9 "2009-06-10T19:06:55Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I think they mean that’s a “lower” limit, not an “upper” limit. In other words, they wouldn’t call their parents their ancestors. [[Emily Litella](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Litella)] Oh. That’s different. Never mind! [/Emily Litella] :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/10 "2009-06-10T19:30:57Z")
> [@J-P\_L](#): > > Who are your ancesters, by that I means, are parents, grand-parents, great-grand-parents and so on, your only ancesters, or are uncles and great-aunts and so on also considered ancesters even if you do not descend directly from them. > > Thanks I think “ancestor” usually is considered only to denote direct forebears, in other words, the set A including oneself and all parents of any member of A. To include collateral relatives (the descendants of any member of A who are not themselves in A – siblings, uncles, cousins, etc.) would ultimately lead to a definition where all living human beings are the ancestors of any other living human being: after all, there is at least one [MRCA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor) through whom any living person can be connected to another. This is not what is meant by “ancestor.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/11 "2009-06-10T20:10:37Z")
I would say that I am my own zeroth-order ancestor, my parents are my first-order ancestors, my grandparents are my second-order ancestors, and so on. Carrying this to its logical conclusion, my children (if I had any) would be my negative-first-order ancestors, and my parents are negative-second-order cousins of each other, since they have a negative-first-order ancestor in common. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/12 "2009-06-10T20:12:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Carrying this to its logical conclusion, my children (if I had any) would be my negative-first-order ancestors, and my parents are negative-second-order cousins of each other, since they have a negative-first-order ancestor in common. I would think that the opposite of _ancestor_ should be _cestor_, but that leads to a weird place. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/13 "2009-06-10T20:23:40Z")
The siblings of your direct ancestors are indirect ancestors. This is sometimes important in societies with an aristocracy. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/14 "2009-06-12T05:52:24Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > The siblings of your direct ancestors are indirect ancestors. This is sometimes important in societies with an aristocracy. But, if your great-uncle is an important person, isn’t that only because your great-grandparents were important people? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/15 "2009-06-12T07:53:21Z")
I can trace my line back to the beginning of time. At least according to Maori myth. It goes back about thirty generations, I think. I hope every one of them count as my ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/16 "2009-06-12T08:09:13Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > I think “ancestor” usually is considered only to denote direct forebears, in other words, the set A including oneself and all parents of any member of A. To include collateral relatives (the descendants of any member of A who are not themselves in A – siblings, uncles, cousins, etc.) would ultimately lead to a definition where all living human beings are the ancestors of any other living human being: after all, there is at least one [MRCA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor) through whom any living person can be connected to another. This is not what is meant by “ancestor.” I’m going to disagree with everybody… To me, ancestors include collaterals and adoptions; foreparents is limited to biological direct line. And “everybody is related to everybody” doesn’t mean “everybody is everybody’s ancestor;” my uncle (per my definitions) would be my ancestor, but not my cousin, as my cousin is not one or more generations above mine. To be my ancestor, you have to be in my family tree one or more generations above mine. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/17 "2009-06-12T09:04:53Z")
Strictly speaking, your ancestors are your lineal antecedents - those from whom you are directly descended. However it is sometimes - especially in a legal context - extended to include people from whom you have inherited , even if they are not your direct lineal antecedents. So if your uncle dies childless, and you inherit the family country estate from him, he becomes your ancestor. If he is still living, or if he dies and leaves the land to his own children, he is nor your ancestor. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/18 "2009-06-12T09:20:47Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Concur. > > I’m also tired of hearing “predecessor” used for people who aren’t dead yet, but that’s just me. 🙂 Objection: I usually hear the word used in the context of someone who has taken a position previously held by another (his or her predecessor). And that is what the word is supposed to mean, regardless of whether the predecessor is living or dead. Not sure what you mean unless you are referring to the use of predecessor as a synonym for ancestor, in which case that usage is archaic according to M-W. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/19 "2009-06-12T09:40:35Z")
Bertie Wooster refers to his Aunt Dahlia as “old ancestor” in his coversations with her. [QUOTE=Bertie Wooster] I was about to reach for the marmalade, when I heard the telephone tootling out in the hall and rose to attend to it. ‘Bertram Wooster’s residence,’ I said, having connected with the instrument. ‘Wooster in person at this end. Oh hullo,’ I added, for the voice that boomed over the wire was that of Mrs Thomas Portarlington Travers of Brinkley Court, Market Snodsbury, near Droitwich - or, putting it another way, my good and deserving Aunt Dahlia. **‘A very hearty pip-pip to you, old ancestor,’ I said, well pleased, for she is a woman with whom it is always a privilege to chew the fat.** ‘And a rousing toodle-oo to you, you young blot on the landscape,’ she replied cordially. ‘I’m surprised to End you up as early as this. Or have you just got in from a night on the tiles?’ [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323/20 "2009-06-12T17:43:28Z")
> [@](#): > > And “everybody is related to everybody” doesn’t mean “everybody is everybody’s ancestor;” my uncle (per my definitions) would be my ancestor, but not my cousin, as my cousin is not one or more generations above mine. To be my ancestor, you have to be in my family tree one or more generations above mine. I guarantee you that there is some convoluted path you could take through your family tree that would put your cousin a generation above you, if you took it out far enough. It wouldn’t bear any resemblance to the obvious path, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-ancesters/499323.md?page=2)